UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)

One of Hiroshige's most well-known prints shows pedestrians crossing the Ohashi Bridge are taken by surprise by a sudden downpour of rain. On the shoreline to the far left, almost completely obscured by the rain are the Atake and Honjo districts, with the roofs of the sheds housing the shogun's boats just visible. Only thirty years after its publication, an impression of this print made its way into the collection of Vincent van Gogh, inspiring him to paint his 1887 oil and canvas version Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige), 1887, which is now in the van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, immortalizing the print into the Western cannon of art forever.